Liquid filter valve structure



D 2, 1947. G. M. wALToN ETAL 2,431,782

I l LIQUID FILTER VALVE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 7, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l" f a? 2s n .z-4- f//lal//ll vt fe' 22 g all v, f/4

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LIQUID FILTER vALvE s'rnucunn Filed Feb. 7, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR. Groks: n wurm v Henn wJlA nocn www Patented Dec. 2, 1947 LIQUID FILTER VALVE STRUCTURE George M. Walton, Shaker Heights, and Henry W. Matlock, Garfield Heights, Ohio, assignors to Air-Maze Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application February 7, 1945, Serial No. 576,672

8 Claims.`

This invention relates to improvements in a valve structure for liquid filters and more particularly to an improvement in valve structure for preventing loss of liquid through the inlet 2 Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the same taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; while Fig. '7 is a fragmental sectional view of the upper portion of Fig. 4 showing the valves in a n and outlet passageways of the lter housing when 5 different position.

the lter is disassembled for cleaning. In the form of our device shown in Figs. 1 to 3,

An object of the present invention is to proa housing I Il generally cylindrical in form is provide liquid filter means in a housing connected vided at its upper end with an inlet passageway in a filtering line where the dirty liquid enters II and an outlet passageway I2. Positioned centhrough one passageway and the clean liquid is lo trally of the housing I0 is a hollow tube I3 hav-` discharged through another passageway. The ing slots I3a extending through the walls therepresent invention provides novel valve means of. Assembled on the tube is a series of annular which is adapted to close both the inlet and outshaped lter packs I4 of hollow-leaf form. These let passageways automatically upon removal of packs may be of any suitable character suitable the filter means for cleaning so that no liquid forms of which are shown in the copending apis lost through the housing during a lter-cleansplication of George M. Walton, Serial Number ing operation. 483,911; filed April 21, 1943, or in the copending Another object of the present invention is to application of Robert A. Behlen, Serial Number provide valve structure as defined in the pre- 516,616, led January 1, 1944. Suiiice it to say ceding paragraph which is normally held in open here that the upper and lower faces of each of position by the mere act of inserting the lter the packs I4 is of ltering material through which means in proper position in the filter housing. the liquid travels to the hollow interior of the Another object of the present invention is to pack I4 and thence radially inwardly passing provide novel means for by-passing the filter through the openings I3a of tube I3, then upmeans in case the latter becomes plugged or for wardly through the hollow of the tube, dischargany reasons builds up an excessive pressure ing out the upper end and through the passagewhereby the flow of liquid to the downstream way I2. The partition walls IIla and IIlb comside of the filter means is always assured. The pletely separate passageways Il and I2. The invention also comprises the novel combination tube I3 is mounted in the partition walls IUa of a by-pass valve for relieving pressure with and IUb by means of the bushingv I5 which is other valves adapted to prevent loss of liquid threaded in those walls and has a smooth inner through the inlet and discharge lines when the cylindrical surface which fits tightly around the lter is removed from the housing for cleansmooth outer cylindrical surface of the upper end ing. of tube I3. The shoulder I3b on the tube limits Other objects and advantages of our invention the upward movement thereof when the tube is will be apparent from the accompanying drawsecured by means presently to be described. A ings and description, and the essential features series of the packs I4 is assembled on the tube thereof will be summarized in the appended I3 being held tightly between the shoulder I3b claims. at the upper end of the tube and a nut I6 which In the drawings, 40 is threaded upon the lower end of the tube. Be- Fig. l is a top plan view of a device embodying tween adjacent packs I4 are spacer rings I1. The our invention; lower end of tube I3 is permanently closed by a Fig. 2 is a view of the same partly in elevation partition wall I 8 secured therein by soldering or and partly in central section taken along the Welding. A helical spring I9 fits within the lower lines 2-2 of Fig. 1; 45 end of tube I3 and receives a central projection Fig. 3 is a fragmental sectional view of the 20a of a securing disk 2li' which is held in posiupper portion of the device of Figs. 1 and 2 taken tion by means of the hand wheel ZI which has a along the line 3-3 of Fig. l; threaded connection with the cap 22 which in Fig. 4 shows a modication involving a byturn is threaded on the lower end of the houspass relief valve, this view being partly in eleing I0. It results from this construction that vation and partly in central section similar to the parts I3, I4, and I9 are readily assembled in Fig. 2 of the rst form; the housing I Il and secured by screwing on the Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevational view of the cap 22 and then turning down on the hand wheel Central tube of the device of Fig. 2 and also the 2|. In like manner, the parts are readily disasdevice of Fig. 4; 55 sembled when necessary. to clean the filter.

Obviously when the cap 22 is removed for cleaning the filter, liquid will escape from the housing III, and this cannot be avoided. Unless some means were provided, additional liquid would flow from the passageways II and I2 resulting in a great loss of liquid and creating a messy condition beneath the filter. To prevent this, a valve 23 is provided seating against the opening 24 in partition wall Ic of the housing to prevent the leakage of fluid from passageway II into the housing ID when the lter is removed for cleaning. The valve 25 is provided and seats in the bushing I to prevent leakage from the passageway I2 when the tube I3 and packs I4 are removed.

Specifically valves 23 and 25 are here shown as assembled on a common valve stem 26. For assembly and disassembly purposes, threaded open` ing 2'I is provided in the top of housing I0, and

this is normally closed by a cap 28. Held in a central cup-shaped opening 28a of this cap is a helical spring 29 which normally urges valve 23 toward its seat. Valve 25 has a hollow upper surface inwhich is housed a helical spring 30, the upper end of which rests against disk 3| which in turn is held by a shoulder on the valve stem 26. It will be noted that this valve stem is reciprocably mounted in the partition wall Illa.

The valve 25 has a ange 25a extending radially outwardly. When the parts are in the assembled position shown in Fig` 2, the upper end of tube I3 is provided with spaced members I3C which engage beneath the flange 25a and hold the valve 25 open. The upper end of tube I3 is more clearly shown in Fig. 5.

It should now be apparent that when tube I3 carrying its assembled packs I4 is inserted upwardly through the bushing I5 and held in place by the cap 22 and the hand wheel 2I, the upwardly extending end portions I3c of the tube I3 raise the valve 25 from its seat, compress the spring 3D which in turn pushes against the disk 3| and the shoulder of valve stem 26 so as to raise valve 23 from its seat also. Thus the mere act of properly positioning and securing the filter assembly in place within the housing I0 automatically opens the valves 23 and 25 and holds them open. Conversely the mere act of removing the cap 22 and removing the tube I3 downwardly out of the housing I0 permits the spring 30 to close the valve 25 and permits the spring 29 to close the valve 23. The spring 29 is somewhat strcnger than the spring 30 because the spring 29 drives the two valves and the stem 26 downwardly while the spring 30 merely takes up the slack between the disk 3Iv and the valve 25. The closed positions of valves 23 and 25 are indicated in dot-dash lines in Figs. 2 and 3.

The device thus far described is complete in itself and is satisfactory in those cases where a stoppage of liquid flow in the discharge passageway I2 would not be a disadvantage. In some cases, however, as in an engine lubricating system, a supply of liquid on the downstream side of the filter at all times is imperative. To take care of this situation, we have shown how a by-l pass valve may be incorporated in our device as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. In a portion of the housing, to one side of the valves 23 and 25, an opening 32 is provided communicating through the partition Icr and providing means for liquid flow from-passageway II to passageway I2 without going through the ltering means. Into the opening 32 is threaded a bushing 33 providing a valve seat. A by-pass valve 34 is provided to CII normally close the opening 32. valve has an upper guiding stem 34a into the hollow upper end of which enters a helical spring 35 which urges the valve 34 toward its seat. It should be obvious that upon the build-up of a heavy pressure within the housing I0, the liquid under pressure will raise the valve 34 from the position shown -in Fig. 3 permitting the escape of liquid directly to the outlet passageway I2, thus by-passing the lter.

In Figs. 4 and '7, we have shown a modified form of our device wherein the function of the bypass Valve is performed by a valve structure incorporated in the same general arrangement which includes the valves 23' and 25 whose func.- tions are exactly like the functions of valves 23 and 25 described in connection with the first form of our device. Here parts having the same function as the parts described in connection with Figs. 1 to 3 have been given the same reference characters with a prime suiiix. ITherefore, it will be necessary only to describe the new parts in connection with this modification.

As described in connection with the rst form of our device, a plurality of filter leaves I4 are assembled on the tube I3 with spacers between the leaves. The valves 23' and 25' are mounted on the common stem 26 and are held open between upwardly extending ends I3c of tube I3 as indicated in full lines in Figs. 4 and 7. It should be obvious from these views that the mere act of inserting the lter means including the tube I3 into the housing IIJ directly lifts the valve 25' from its seat against the bushing I5. The central hub of the valve 25 bears against a ring 3B which in turn presses upwardly on a shoulder of valve stem 26 and thus serves to lift the valve 23 from its seat. The closed positions of these two valves are indicated in dot-dash lines in Fig. 4. When the filtering means is disassembled from the housing Ill', a helical spring 3I surrounding stem 26 bears against the valve 38 in the position shown in Fig. 4 and acts downwardly on valve 25 to urge this valve toward its seat on bushing I5 as the tube I3 moves downwardly. Thus the valve 25 will prevent flow 0f liquid from discharge passageway I2' into the housing IIJ. A helical spring 39 surrounds the lower end of stem 2B and is held between a disk 40 in xed position on the stem and between the lower face of valve 25. This gives a yielding mounting of the valve 25 on the stem 26. Thus as valve 25 moves downwardly, it compresses spring 39 and carries valve stem 26' downwardly so that the valve 23' moves to the dot-dash position of Fig. 4 into engagement with its coacting seat. Thus these parts function similar to valves 23 and 25 previously described.

It should be understood that the housing I0 is secured to the upper housing portion 4I by means of cap screws like that shown at 42 in Fig. 3. Therefore, the filter means I3, I4 may be assembled and disassembled by manipulation of the cap screws 42. However, if desired, structure like that shown at I9, 20, 20a, 2I, and 22 may be supplied at the bottom of the housing I 0' exactly in the same position as they occupy at the bottom of the housing III as described in connection with Fig. 2. In such a structure, the lter means I3, I4 might be removed vertically downwardly out of the housing I0 by removing the cap 22 without disturbing any of the other parts if desired.

The novel by-pass structure shown in Figs. 4

vand '7 comprises the valve 38 previously'men- This by-pass tioned which normally serves to close openings 43 through the partition wall Illa. The spring 31 in the position of Fig. 4 normally urges valve 38 upwardly so as to close the openings 43 against the passage of liquid.

The above is the normal position of the by-pass valve, but on the occurrence of excessive pressure either in the passageway Il or in the housing I0 (due to plugging of the filter), the pressure liquid will cause valve 38 to move downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 7 compressing the spring 31 as shown. This permits a by-passing of liquid directly from passageway l I' to passageway I2 without going through the lter means. Upon the relief of the excessive pressure conditions, spring 31 will again cause valve 38 to close.

What we claim is:

1. In combination, a housing, liquid filter means therein, inlet and outlet conduits communicating with said housing and having valves, one for each conduit, controlling iiow between the respective conduits and said housing, means urging said valves toward closed position, and operative means between sai-.d lter means and said valves for holding both of said valves open vonly when said filter means is in ltering position in said housing.

2. In combination, a housing, liquid iilter means therein, inlet and outlet conduits communicating with said housing and having valves, one for each conduit, controlling flow between the respective conduits and said housing, said lter means in cluding a perforated tube through which all of the liquid flows, means projecting from the end 0f said tube, and said Valves being positioned for engagement by means of said projecting means to hold open both of said valves when said filter means is in filtering position in said housing.

3. In combination, a housing, liquid lter means therein, inlet and outlet conduits communicating with said housing and having valves, one for each conduit, controlling flow between the respective conduits and said housing, said lter means including a perforated tube through which all of the liquid flows, a valve stem axially alined with the axis of said tube, both of said valves being mounted on said stem, and means projecting from the end of said tube and adapted to open said valves when said lter means is in iiltering position in said housing.

4. In combination, a housing, liquid lter means therein, inlet and outlet conduits communicating with said housing and having valves, one for each conduit, controlling iiow between the respective conduits and said housing, said filter means including a perforated tube through which all of the liquid flows, a valve stem axially alined with the axis of said tube, rst partition means between said housing and said outlet conduit, there being an opening through said partition means through which said tube extends, second partition means between said inlet conduit and said outletcon'- duit, there being an opening through said second partition means through which said valve stem extends, an outlet valve on said stem between said partitions, an inlet valve on said stem on the means is in iiltering position in said housing,

there being an operative connection between said outlet valve and said stem for moving said stem to hold said inlet valve open.

5, In liquid lter means, a housing having inlet and outlet conduits communicating therewith, a liquid filtering element in said housing adapted to filter liquid passing from said inlet conduit to said outlet conduit, valve means controlling flow between one of said ,conduits and said. housing, an operative connection between said filter element and said valve means for holding the latter open when said Iilter means is in filtering position in said housing, and a by-pass valve providing direct communication between said inlet and outlet conduits independent of said ltering element.

6. The combination of claim 3, wherein bypass valve means is carried by said stem and provides direct communication between said inlet and outlet conduits independent of said filter means.

7. The combination of claim 4, wherein there is provided a by-pass opening through said second partition means, a by-pass valve on the outlet conduit side of said second partition means and carried by said stem, and means urging said bypass valve in a direction to close said by-pass opening.

8. The combination of claim 4, wherein there is provided a by-pass opening through said second partition means and adjacent saidstem, an

annular ley-pass valve slidably mounted on said stem on the outlet conduit side of said second ,partition means, and a helical spring embracing said stem and engaging between said outlet valve and said by-pass valve to urge both said valves toward their seats.

GEORGE M. WALTON. HENRY W. MATLOCK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,407,763 Langston Feb. 28, 1922 1,220,231 Jack Mar. 27, 1917 1,746,274 Otis, Jr. Feb. 11, 1930 1,507,806 Zeller Sept. 9, 1924 2,331,119 Gouldbourn et al. Oct. 5, 1943 1,058,737 .Elliott l Apr. 15, 1913 1,720,380 Schulze July 9, 1929 1,295,006 Corey Feb. 18, 1919 922,657 Worsey May 25, 1909 2,344,486 Arvins et al Mar. 21, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 541,588 Great Britain Nov. 28, 1941 736,742 France Nov. 28, 1932 

